Coalition faces its own surplus questions

Updated
January 28, 2013 08:07:00

The Coalition's election campaign has swung into gear with a presidential-style rally to the party faithful in the electoral battleground of Western Sydney. It's also released a blueprint of its policy priorities. The document doesn't restate the Coalition's pledge to deliver a surplus in its first year of government based on last year's budget numbers, but the shadow treasurer denies the Opposition is backing away from that commitment.

TONY EASTLEY: The shadow treasurer maintains a Coalition government would deliver a surplus in its first year in office, although it's made no mention of it in its new policy document.

The Opposition's launched the blueprint as its election campaign swings into gear.

The book contains no policy costings, but a prominent economist says it's too early to expect the Coalition to release them anyway.

Lexi Metherell reports.

LEXI METHERELL: The Coalition chose to stage its first election rally in the Labor-held seat of Reid in the electoral battleground of Western Sydney.

JOE HOCKEY: The people in Western Sydney want to cut the umbilical cord they've had with the Labor Party for a generation.

LEXI METHERELL: The shadow treasurer Joe Hockey:

JOE HOCKEY: They are determined to get rid of a bad government and we are determined to offer a sensible, feasible plan to help to rebuild hope in Australia.

LEXI METHERELL: The presidential-style rally to the party faithful marks the beginning of what the Opposition Leader's dubbed a mini-campaign.

It won't be the basis for any new policies but it will provide Tony Abbott a chance to sell the Coalition's new slogan: "Hope. Reward. Opportunity."

The Government's been hounding the Coalition to release costings of its policies. It hasn't done that, but it has outlined its priorities in a 50-page book which is marked throughout with the words fully costed and budgeted.

Joe Hockey:

JOE HOCKEY: Well we've been doing costing work on policies for the last three years and we have put in place mechanisms that ensure that the first part of our plan is delivered, that is, that as a government we will live within our means.

LEXI METHERELL: So is it parliamentary members of the Liberal Party who have been costing these policies or have you had someone external?

JOE HOCKEY: All will be revealed well before the next election. We've been using a range of different sources but ultimately we rely on the Government's numbers.

LEXI METHERELL: But you are launching your mini-campaign, you have released this document. Why not include the costings and the full figures in this document?

JOE HOCKEY: Well because the Government's numbers keep changing. The Government doesn't even know, well the Government won't reveal what the state is of the budget. And therefore until we get to the weeks before the election when the pre-election fiscal outlook is released by the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Finance we don't know what the real state of the budget is and we do not know what the funding envelope is for our commitments.

SAUL ESLAKE: Well it is difficult until there's a benchmark from which to base any new policies that an opposition party might want to take to the people. Of course before the election is called we'll also have the May budget and that will probably be when it's legitimate to expect the Opposition to start putting out more detail about the impact of any policies it's proposing to take to the election on the budget bottom line.

But it's still too early really legitimately to expect the Opposition to have fully costed policies available for public scrutiny at this stage.

LEXI METHERELL: In his post-budget address at the National Press Club in Canberra last year Joe Hockey said:

JOE HOCKEY (National Press Club, 2012): Based on the numbers presented last Tuesday night we will achieve a surplus in our first year in office and we will achieve a surplus for every year of the first term.

LEXI METHERELL: But the Coalition's new book makes no mention of that pledge. It says only that a Coalition Government would get the budget back under control.

The shadow treasurer Joe Hockey maintains the Coalition isn't wavering on its commitment.

JOE HOCKEY: Our commitment is emphatic. Based on the numbers published today, we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.